In your business plan cover the following topics:
- Vision: your elevator pitch
- Problem: is this an Aspirin or Vitamin? why do customers care?
- Market: who are your customers?
- Solution: how are you solving the customer’s pain (high level)?
- Technology: what is your secret sauce? include development risks
- Business Model: pricing and gross margin
- Sales Cycle: value chain, product pull, distribution channels
- Competitors: key companies, strengths and Weaknesses
- Competitive Advantage: key differentiators (are you 10 times better?)
- Team: management and board of directors (who’s behind you?)
- Traction Record: key achievements and traction creation
- Financial Plan: 1st year monthly cash flow and five year projection
- Capital Structure: who owns what and price paid
- Offer: how much for what percentage (how profitable your venture is?)
This list is adapted from OCRI’s outline for an investor pitch.
I’m not a journalist, and that’s why I don’t write full paragraphs! I know hardly anyone reads pass the third page on a business plan, but it is necessary. A business plan forces you to prepare and to ponder over key issues in your business.